ArcaMax

Dear Eric: I will turn 65 in a few months and have announced my plans to retire. I have a long list of things I want to do, and after 50 years of employment and saving, I am well situated for these next years. At least, that is what my financial adviser and balance sheets tell me.

I really yearn for more discretionary time and my physical ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have two daughters with special needs. They function around the level of a 10-year-old. They are also nonverbal in public. It is very unlikely that they will ever have a relationship with anyone, much less have children. So, it is likely that I will never be a grandmother. My question is how do I deal with the grief that causes me? ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a young adult with a movement disorder similar to Parkinson's. It causes uncontrollable, violent, jerky, muscle movements, called dyskinesias, in nearly every part of my body. These dyskinesias resemble the effects of illicit substances and can make people who don't know me very uncomfortable. How would you suggest I address this...Read more

Dear Eric: Christmas is a very difficult time for me, and I typically don’t celebrate as I don’t have any close family, and it only brings back painful memories. I moved a couple years ago and found a very great group of friends that have quickly become my chosen family. I was determined to take back how I felt about Christmas and began to ...Read more

Dear Eric: I belong to a small book club that now comprises six older women. All of us have been with the group for more than 30 years. For the most part, we all get along and enjoy the variety of books that are selected to be read each year. We have one member who is very opinionated about everything and does not hesitate to let her thoughts be...Read more

Dear Anna,

I'm at my wit's end with my partner’s extreme focus on achieving FIRE (financial independence, retire early). What started as a healthy interest in personal finance has turned into an all-consuming obsession. We're both 29 and have lived together the last year. My boyfriend has become fixated on retiring by 35, which means saving ...Read more

Dear Eric: My wife and I had a good friendship with a single woman, "Barb," for about 20 years. We enjoyed her company, and she went with us on trips, sometimes with her boyfriend of the moment.

She was always a bit problematic as, beside relationship troubles, she had health issues, but we were supportive, and we all had fun together. As we ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The weddings were initially supposed to cost $100 a pop. They ended up being free.

Y’all-Mart, a quarterly Columbia art fair advertised as a “flea market for Southern eclectic folks,” hosted eight free gay weddings Sunday as a fundraiser for the Harriet Hancock Center’s name change and gender marker fund.

Stoked by an...Read more

As a dating coach, I get questions that run the gamut from first date to the early stages of a relationship. Let's look at a few of those recent questions today.

Question: I’m a head taller than him. I enjoy his company, but I’m worried I won’t get over the height difference. What do I do?

Answer: There’s really nothing I can say here....Read more

Dear Eric: I have a mid-20s nephew who appears to be afflicted with a severe case of failure-to-launch syndrome. He dropped out of college after six months, moved in with his mom (my sister), only interacts with peers via gaming and comes across as utterly apathetic and disengaged from the world.

There was a ray of hope when he went back to ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a non-observant Jew. My spiritual beliefs are very personal, and I don’t discuss them casually. My mother became a Christian. This is important because, as she went deeper into her Christianity, she made friends who shared her beliefs.

One of them is a younger woman she called her spiritual daughter. My mother arranged an ...Read more